The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting happened around 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
A California mother is grieving after she says her 10-year-old son, who was shot over the weekend, died because the alleged shooter, also said to be 10 years old, opened fire after losing a bicycle race, according to reports.
Ten-year-old Keith "KJ" Frierson was shot and killed playing with friends outside near his home, according to KCRA.
The victim’s distraught mother, Brittani Frierson, spoke to KCRA at a vigil held for her son Tuesday evening.
“My baby asked me can he go outside to ride. Not even 15 minutes later, my baby was gone. All because he was enjoying a race with some other kids he considered his friends on his new bike,” she told KCRA. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. It’s not OK.”
Brittani Frierson told NBC News that the alleged shooter was being a "sore loser" after a bike race Saturday afternoon in Foothill Farms, a community about 16 miles northeast of Sacramento, and shot and killed her son.
Brittani Frierson told NBC News she was basing her account on what she was told by a neighbor's child, who was among the kids riding bikes before the shooting.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting happened around 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
Deputies arrested a 10-year-old boy and his father, Arkete Davis, 53, in connection to the shooting. Investigators claim the 10-year-old child got a gun from Davis’ vehicle and allegedly shot and killed Keith Frierson. Detectives also said Davis tried to get rid of the gun by throwing it into a nearby trashcan, according to Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
“Instead of aiding my baby, he tried to hide it. He tried to cover it up. He left my baby there,” Brittani Frierson told KCRA. “He will pay for this. He will. We’ll get justice for my son. I will get justice for my son.”
In a lengthy post on X, formerly Twitter, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said, “Homicide Detectives and Crime Scene investigators responded to the scene, interviewed witnesses, and gathered evidence. Based on their investigation, they learned one of the juveniles detained, also a 10-year-old male, went to his father’s (Davis) vehicle to get him cigarettes. He then took a gun from inside the vehicle and bragged that his father had a gun. He then proceeded to shoot the victim once and ran into a nearby apartment. Detectives located a firearm in a nearby trashcan, where Davis is believed to have tried to dispose of it. Detectives confirmed that Davis was legally prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm. The recovered firearm was also reported stolen in 2017.”
Arkete Davis was booked on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a felon, criminal storage of a firearm, carrying a stolen loaded firearm in a vehicle, child endangerment and acting as an accessory to a crime after the fact, according to his arrest record obtained by Inside Edition Digital.
He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.
It is unknown whether Davis or his son have legal counsel or have entered pleas.
Because Davis’ son is a minor, his name has not been released.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to the Sacramento County Criminal Courts and Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and has not heard back.
